Blunt edge dough cutter

ABSTRACT

A dough cutting apparatus is suitable for cutting a sheet of dough. The dough cutting apparatus includes a structure defining a blunt dough engaging portion. The present invention can be embodied in a number of different ways, including a wheel cutter, a rotary drum cutter, a reciprocating head cutter, or another cutter.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application represents a continuation of application Ser. No.13/966,820, filed Aug. 14, 2013, now abandoned, which is a continuationof application Ser. No. 13/011,519, filed Jan. 21, 2011, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,535,039, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/424,340,filed Apr. 28, 2003, now abandoned, which is a divisional of applicationSer. No. 09/241,508, filed Feb. 1, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,754.The entire contents of each of these applications are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention deals with a dough cutter. More specifically, thepresent invention deals with a dough cutter used to make bread productshaving aesthetically pleasing appearances.

A number of methods have been employed in order to make various types ofbread products, such as loaves, buns, rolls, biscuits, and breadsticks,from a sheet of dough. In such systems, a sheet of bread dough maytypically be extruded, reduced, and provided to a conveyor which conveysthe sheet of dough along a dough travel path. The sheet of dough thenencounters one or more cutting apparatus, such as slitter wheels,guillotine-type cutters, reciprocating head cutters, or rotatabledrum-type cutters. Such cutters, traditionally, have employed very thinor sharp cutting edges in order to cut the dough. For instance, manysuch cutting edges are only approximately 1/32 of an inch thick. Infact, conventional wisdom dictates that, when cutting dough, withoutcrimping or performing other types of dough forming functions, thethinner the cutting edge is the better. This requires less cuttingpressure and results in less dough displacement from the cut.

However, such cuts can render aesthetically unpleasing dough pieces. Forexample, rather than resulting in a breadstick or bun which has roundedcorners which resemble handmade buns, the cut bun has sharp and squaredoff edges which can be aesthetically undesirable.

In order to obtain a more rounded look, prior systems have divided orcut the dough sheet with dividers or sharp cutters, as described above,and then subjected the cut dough pieces to a subsequent rolling processby which the dough pieces are rolled to resemble a hand-formed doughpiece.

Still other prior techniques do not even attempt to process a doughsheet into such rounded dough pieces. Instead, typical dinner rollmaking techniques parse dough into dough portions which are placed inmolds or rollers which round the dough into balls. Those balls are thenbaked into the eventual rolls. Also, some bread making techniques parsedough into pieces which are allowed to rest, are sheeted and rolled,subjected to pressure by a pressure board and placed in a pan. Suchtechniques are quite slow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A dough cutting apparatus is suitable for cutting a sheet of dough. Thedough cutting apparatus includes a structure defining a blunt doughengaging portion. The present invention can be embodied in a number ofdifferent ways, including a wheel cutter, a rotary drum cutter, areciprocating head cutter, or another type of cutter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an elevated side view of a dinner roll cut using aprior art dough cutter.

FIG. 2 illustrates an elevated side view of a bun or dinner roll cut inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a dinner roll cutter in accordance with one aspect ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the dinner roll cutter shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a cutting operation using the dinner roll cuttershown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate another embodiment of a dough cutter inaccordance with one aspect of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate another embodiment of a dough cutter inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 8A-8H illustrate additional embodiments of dough cutters inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate another embodiment of a dough cutter inaccordance with one aspect of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A-10E illustrate utilizing the present invention to cut a set ofbuns or loaves in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 11A illustrates a hex cutter in accordance with one aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 11B illustrates the cutter shown in FIG. 11A with a patternimprinter portion.

FIG. 11C illustrates a compression roller and cutter bar arrangement inaccordance with one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a reciprocating head cutter in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a walking head cutter in accordance with one aspectof the present invention.

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate a rotary drum cutter in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a dinner roll 10 cut using a method and cutter inaccordance with the prior art. It can be seen that dinner roll 10 hassharp, substantially squared off corners, where it was cut from a sheet,or another piece, of dough.

By contrast, FIG. 2 illustrates a bun or roll 12 which is cut using acutter or system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.It can be seen that roll 12 has rounded edges 14, rather than thesquared or sharply cut edges of roll 10 illustrated in FIG. 1.

In the past, this type of shape has been obtained by placing small ballsof dough in rollers which roll the balls of dough into a substantiallyspherical shape. The dough spheres (or dough balls) are then placed inindividual baking pans so that they can be baked, much as a conventionaldinner roll is baked by a consumer. However, such techniques are verylow throughput techniques. They are, thus, less than desirable forcommercial applications in which it is desirable to process many poundsof dough per minute.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sheet of bread dough 15 and a cross-section of acutter 16 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. Byusing the term bread dough, the present discussion refers to a doughwhich can be rather sticky, to a dough which is rather dry and whichfalls in a range of approximately 600 BUs to approximately 1200 BUs. Inthe embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, cutter 16 is substantially roundin shape. However, it will be appreciated that cutter 16 can takesubstantially any shape, and still maintain inventive aspects of thepresent invention.

Dough cutter 16 has a cutting portion 18, which engages, and cuts, doughsheet 15. Cutting portion 18, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3,is rounded or blunt. Blunt cutting portion 18, in one preferredembodiment, has a radius of curvature of at least approximately ⅛-¼inch. Blunt portion 18 is formed about the bottom of annular ring 20,which defines the cutting depth of cutter 16. The thickness of annularring 20, in another preferred embodiment, is at least approximately ¼inch. More preferably, the thickness of annular ring 20 is in a range ofapproximately ¼-½ inch.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of cutter 16 illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. 3simply illustrates that, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4,cutter 16 has a substantially similarly shaped inner edge 22 and outeredge 24.

FIG. 5 illustrates use of dough cutter 16 in cutting dough sheet 15. Aswill be described in greater detail later in the application, cutter 16can be mounted to one of any number of different types of cuttingmechanisms which either press cutter 16 onto dough sheet 15, or causedough sheet 15 to be pressed into cutter 16. In either case, cuttingportion 18 of cutter 16 engages a surface 26 of dough sheet 15. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, cutter 16 is pressed against uppersurface 26 of dough sheet 15, toward lower surface 28 of dough sheet 15.As cutter 16 is depressed against the dough sheet, cutting portion 18begins to make an impression in the upper surface 26 of dough sheet 15.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, cutting portion18 is wide enough such that frictional engagement between the uppersurface 26 of dough sheet 15 and cutting portion 18 acts to draw, orpull, the top surface 26 of dough sheet 15 downwardly, as indicated byarrows 30, toward the bottom surface 28. The pressure exerted by cuttingportion 18 also acts to seal top surface 26 of dough sheet 15 to bottomsurface 28. This results in a more rounded cut dough product 12, asindicated in FIG. 2. Thus, rather than having its edges straight andsubstantially squared off (such as the prior art roll illustrated inFIG. 1), roll (or dough product) 12 illustrated in FIG. 2 hassubstantially rounded edges, which are formed by the upper surface 26 ofdough sheet 15 being pulled toward the bottom surface 28 of dough sheet15, and sealed thereto, when dough sheet 15 is severed by cuttingportion 18 of cutter 16. Thus, when roll 12 is baked, it has anaesthetically more desirable look, which more closely resembles ahandmade dinner roll, than prior art dinner rolls which were cut from adough sheet.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a side sectional view, and a bottom plan view,respectively, of another embodiment of a cutter 31 in accordance withthe present invention illustrated without dough. Cutter 31 is similar tocutter 16 illustrated in previous figures. Cutter 31 has a doughengaging, cutting portion 34, which is relatively thick, or blunt, ascompared to prior art cutters. In accordance with one aspect of thepresent invention, cutting portion 34 has an inner rounded doughengaging portion which is rounded to a radius of curvature of at leastapproximately ⅛ inch. More preferably, the radius of curvature is in arange of approximately ⅛-¼ inch. In addition, the annular ring whichforms the depth of cutter 31 may be in a range of approximately ¼-½ inchthick.

However, cutter 31 also has an additional cutting edge 32. Edge 32, inthe embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B, forms an annular ringgenerally disposed about the outer periphery of cutter 31, and is muchnarrower than the remainder of the annular ring which forms the depth ofcutter 31. In one illustrative embodiment, cutting edge 32 is onlyapproximately 1/16 of an inch, or less, in thickness. Cutting edge 32protrudes from dough engaging portion 34 by a distance 36 which, in oneillustrative embodiment, is approximately 1/16 of an inch or less. Ifused only as a single cutter, or if used on a cutting head (such asillustrated in FIGS. 11A-11C discussed below) the thickness of bluntdough engaging portion 34 can be rounded to approximately ⅛ inch radiusof curvature such that the overall thickness of portion 34 and edge 32is approximately 3/16 of an inch. Cutting edge 32 can be a flat edge, orit can be sharpened or tapered. Therefore, cutting edge 32 actuallysevers dough sheet 15, while dough engaging portion 34, which isrelieved from the cutting edge 32, provides a blunt dough engagingsurface which is sufficiently thick to frictionally engage, and pull,the top surface 26 of dough sheet 15 toward the bottom surface 28thereof, and to seal the two together (or pinch them together withpossibly only a small gap between the two caused by edge 32), in orderto provide the eventual rounded dough product. Since cutting edge 32 isprovided, the cutting pressure required to cut through, or sever, doughsheet 15 has been observed to be less than that required for a cutter(such as cutter 16 illustrated in the previous figures) which has nosuch cutting edge.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a system 38 in which the present invention isembodied in a different type of cutter. FIG. 7A shows a preprocessingstation 40, dough sheet 15 conveyed on a conveyor which is driven by atleast one of rollers 42 and 44, a post processing station 46, and aplurality of rotatable wheel (or slitter wheel) cutters, 48, 50 and 52.

Preprocessing station 40 simply illustrates that dough sheet 15 maytypically be extruded, reduced, or processed in some other manner andprovided to the conveyor carried by rollers 42 and 44 in the directionindicated by arrow 54.

Cutters 48, 50 and 52 are rotatably mounted relative to the conveyor,preferably about an axle 56. Cutters 48, 50 and 52 each have an outerdiameter which is preferably at least six times as large as thethickness of the dough, and even more preferably is at least 10-12 timesas large or more. Cutters 48, 50 and 52 are mounted relative to theconveyor such that, when dough sheet 15 is traveling in the directionindicated by arrow 54, cutters 48, 50 and 52 engage the dough sheet andsever it, to provide a plurality of cuts in dough sheet 15. Cutters 48,50 and 52, can either be positively driven, or simply driven by thefrictional engagement between the cutters and dough sheet 15 or theconveyor. After the cuts are made in dough sheet 15, dough sheet 15continues traveling in the direction indicated by arrow 54 to postprocessing station 46. Post processing station 46 can include, forexample, cutting, proofing, baking, freezing, and/or packaging.

FIG. 7B is a side view of a portion of system 38 shown in FIG. 7A, andsimilar items are similarly numbered. FIG. 7B better illustratesconveyor 56 which is driven by rollers 42 and/or 44. In addition, FIG.7B illustrates that cutters 48, 50 and 52 extend all the way throughdough sheet 15 to lightly engage conveyor (not labeled) and therebycompletely sever dough sheet 15.

FIGS. 8A-8H illustrate different embodiments of cutters 48, 50 and 52.For the purposes of simplicity, each of the wheels is designated ascutter 48. However, it will be appreciated that the wheels can bepositioned substantially anywhere along dough sheet 15. FIG. 8Aillustrates that cutter 48 simply has a rounded or blunt outer peripherywhich has a thickness 58 which is preferably in a range of approximately¼-½ inch. Similarly, the blunt outer periphery of cutter 48 is roundedto a radius of curvature preferably in a range of ⅛-¼ inch. With such anarrangement, the outer periphery of cutter 48, as it cuts dough sheet15, performs a similar action to cutter 16 illustrated in FIG. 5. Inother words, cutter 48 frictionally engages the upper surface of doughsheet 15 and pulls or draws it downwardly toward the lower surface ofdough sheet 15, thus sealing the two together and severing or cuttingthe dough sheet.

FIG. 8B illustrates an embodiment of cutter 48 similar to that shown inFIG. 8A, and similar items are similarly numbered. However, FIG. 8Billustrates that the outer periphery of cutter 48 is provided with anarrow cutting edge 62 which is similar to cutting edge 32 in FIGS. 6Aand 6B. FIG. 8B also illustrates that cutter 48 has a dough engagingportion 64, which is blunt, and which is roughly ¼-½ inch thick and ispreferably rounded with a radius of curvature of ⅛-¼ inch. Doughengaging portion 64 is preferably relieved from the outer periphery ofcutting edge 62 by a distance 66 which is no greater than approximately1/16 of an inch. Similarly, cutting edge 62 preferably has a thickness68 which is on the order of approximately 1/16 of an inch or less andmay be a flat edge or tapered to a sharpened edge.

Cutter 48, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, thus cuts dough sheet 15 in asimilar manner to cutter 31 illustrated in FIG. 6A. Cutting edge 62provides a sharper edge such that the cutting force which needs to beapplied to dough sheet 15 is significantly less than that with respectto the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8A. However, since dough engagingportion 64 is provided, and is only relieved from the cutting edge 62 bya short distance, cutter 48, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, maintains thebenefit of a more rounded type cut than if the entire cutter were formedof the same thickness as cutting edge 62.

FIGS. 8C and 8D illustrate yet another embodiment of cutter 48 inaccordance with one aspect of the present invention. The cutter 48illustrated in FIG. 8C is similar in many respects to that illustratedin FIG. 8B, and similar items are similarly numbered. However, cutter 48of FIG. 8C also has a thicker portion 70 which is radially disposedtoward the center of cutter 48. In one embodiment, portion 70 is offsetfrom a radial outer portion 72 by a transition region 74 which compriseseither a step (as shown in FIG. 8C) or a taper, or another transitionconfiguration. The more central portion 70 of cutter 48 has a thickness76 which is greater than approximately ½ inch. Similarly, portion 70 isrelieved from cutting edge 62 by a distance 78 which is at least asgreat as the thickness of dough sheet 15. Therefore, central portion 70provides greater structural support to cutter 48 than the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 8B. However, cutter 48 illustrated in FIG. 8Cobtains the advantages associated with cutter 48 as illustrated in FIG.8B. FIG. 8D is simply a side view of the cutter 48 illustrated in FIG.8C, and better illustrates one exemplary location of the transitionsection 74.

FIGS. 8E-8G illustrate further embodiments of cutter 48, the features ofwhich can be applied to other types of cutters such as those shown inthe other figures. FIG. 8E shows that cutter 48 has a dough engagingportion 69 which has rounded corners 71 and 73 but which has a generallyflattened region 75 there between. Corners 71 and 73 are roundedsufficiently to avoid breaking the skin on the upper surface of doughsheet 16 until the upper skin has been stretched and drawn toward thelower skin and pinched thereto. The faster dough sheet 15 moves, themore likely cutter 48 is to break the skin, so the more blunt or roundedthe corners should be.

FIG. 8F shows cutter 48 which is similar to cutter 48 in FIG. 8E andsimilar items are similarly numbered. Cutter 48 shown in FIG. 8Fincludes corners 71 and 73 and flattened portion 75. However, flattenedportion 75 also has raised edge 62, which is similar to that illustratedin FIGS. 8B-8D. Therefore, cutter 48 illustrated in FIG. 8F can obtainthe same advantages as cutter 48 illustrated in FIG. 8E, but with lesscutting pressure required to sever dough sheet 15.

FIG. 8G illustrates cutter 48 with a lower portion 77. Lower portion 77includes corners 79 and 81, which can either be rounded or sharp, andwhich lead to tapering portions 83 and 85. Tapering portions 83 and 85taper to a most extreme outer peripheral edge 87 of cutter 48. The angledefined by tapering portions 83 and 85 is a relatively large angle, andis sufficient such that the extreme outer periphery 87 avoids breakingthe skin of dough sheet 51, until that skin has been drawn toward theopposite skin, and pinched or sealed thereto. Similarly, corners 79 and81 are preferably rounded, but are at least formed at angles which aresufficiently large to avoid breaking the dough skin which it engages,until it is pinched or sealed to the opposite dough skin.

FIG. 8H illustrates yet another cutter 48. Cutter 48 illustrated in FIG.8H is similar to that illustrated in FIG. 8F. However, ridge 62 isreplaced by a plurality of ridge section 62A. Ridge sections 62A aresized and dimensioned similarly to ridge 62, except that they arediscontinuous along the outer periphery of cutter 48. Ridge sections 62Athus provide a perforation, rather than a clean cut or sever. Such acutter can be used for any desirable application, and may specificallybe used as any of cutters 92-98 for the application illustrated in FIGS.10A-10D, as will be described later in the specification.

It occasionally happens that, when fairly thick dough (such as dough inexcess of 1 inch thick) is to be cut by rollers (such as with system 38illustrated in FIG. 7A) the dough sheet 15 can tend to gather, or bunch,upstream of the wheels, particularly when the wheels are notmechanically driven.

Based on the above, it should be readily apparent that, at least inaccordance with certain aspects of the invention, the dough cuttingwheel includes a dough engaging surface portion at a central outercircumference thereof that is radially offset from the dough engagingcurved surfaces that are provided to both sides thereof so as to cutdough of the first and second skins of the dough sheet as pinchedtogether by the dough engaging curved surfaces. In addition, the doughengaging surface portion at the central outer circumference, at least inaccordance with certain embodiments, is radially offset by an amountthat is no more than one half of the radius for each of the doughengaging curved surfaces. In addition to longitudinal cutting,transverse cutting can be employed, such as with a transverse cutterassembly for transversely separating the dough strips into dough pieces,with the transverse cutter assembly operatively supported with respectto the conveying surface downstream from the first cutter assembly. Inparticular, the transverse cutter assembly can comprise at least onetransverse cutting element that includes a blunt edge cutter that isdefined by a transverse dough engaging curved surface, with thetransverse dough engaging curved surface having a radius so that thefirst skin of a respective dough strip will be drawn to and pinchedtogether with the second skin of the respective dough strip as therespective dough strip is moved past the transverse cutter assembly tocreate the dough pieces. For instance, the transverse cutter assemblycan comprise a guillotine-type cutter having a controlled movement tocut the dough pieces during intermittent stoppages of the conveyor.

Therefore, FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a system 80 for cutting a thickersheet of dough 15. System 80 is similar to system 38 illustrated in FIG.7A, and similar items are similarly numbered. However, system 80 alsoincludes two additional sets 82 and 84 of rotatable wheel cutters, whichare generally aligned with, and located upstream of, wheel cutters 48,50 and 52. The sets 82 and 84 of wheel cutters are similar to wheelcutters 48, 50 and 52, except that they are each set to depress intodough sheet 15 at different depths. FIG. 9B is a side view illustratingthe different depths of cutting or depression.

FIG. 9B illustrates that the set of rotatable wheel cutters 84 only makea small depression into the surface of dough sheet 15. This depressiondoes not break the skin on the surface of dough sheet 15, but only actsto locally stretch the skin toward the conveyor, in the area of thedepression. The second set of rotatable wheel cutters 82, which islocated downstream of set 84, depresses somewhat further into doughsheet 15, but still does not sever dough sheet 15. The set of cuttersillustrated in FIG. 9A, which includes wheel 52, on the other hand,extends all the way into, and severs, dough sheet 15, thus completingthe cut. In this way, relatively thick dough sheets can be cut usingrotatable wheel cutters, without positively driving the wheels, andwithout encountering a significant build up or gathering of doughupstream of the roller wheel cutters. Of course, the sets of wheelcutters 82 and 84 can have any of the configurations illustrated inFIGS. 8A-8G. Depending on their purpose, the cutters can also beimplemented as illustrated in FIG. 8H. Similarly, more or fewer sets ofwheel cutters can be used based on a particular dough thickness and linespeed. Further, different cutter wheel thicknesses may be used atdifferent locations relative to the dough sheet.

In some applications, it has been found desirable to be able to form aplurality of buns or loaves which are distinct from one another, butwhich are still attached to one another, in groups. Such buns can beganged together in any desired number. For example, in order to packagehot dog buns, it may be desirable to maintain four buns, physicallyconnected to one another, yet discrete, such that they can be insertedin two layers into a bag or other package, to provide the consumer witheight hot dog buns. Such ganged buns or loaves can also be used in otherapplications.

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate a system 86 for forming buns or loaves in sucha ganged fashion. System 86 shows dough sheet 15 moving in a direction54, as indicated in previous figures. Similarly, system 86 includes aset 88 of rotatable wheel cutters and a guillotine-type cutter 90located downstream of the set 88 of rotatable wheel cutters. The set 88of rotatable wheel cutters includes cutters 92, 94, 96, and 98, all ofwhich at least depress into dough sheet 15 and locally stretch the skinof one surface of dough sheet 15 toward the opposite skin. However, inorder to achieve ganged buns or loaves, wheels 94 and 96 do not cut allthe way through dough sheet 15, but instead stop just short of severingdough sheet 15.

This is indicated in greater detail in FIG. 10B. It can be seen thatrotatable cutters 92 and 98 are positioned relative to the conveyorconveying dough sheet 15 to sever dough sheet 15, while cutters 94 and96 are not. Therefore, as dough sheet 15 passes the set 88 of cutters,four depressions are made, only two of which sever dough sheet 15. Thedough then travels to guillotine-type cutter 90 which makes a transversecut, periodically, in dough sheet 15 such that the cut dough pieces arethe desired length such as the length of hot dog buns. It should benoted that guillotine-type cutter 90 can be a blunt edge cutter inaccordance with the present invention as well. Further, as illustratedin FIG. 10E, which is a bottom view of cutter 90, cutter 90 can includea generally rounded shape to cut the dough sheet 16 into loaves or bunshaving rounded ends.

The resulting product is illustrated in FIG. 10C. FIG. 10C illustratesdepressions 100 and 102 which are formed by cutters 94 and 96. The outeredges 104 and 106 of the buns, however, have been severed from theremainder of dough sheet 15. This yields a product, the top view ofwhich is illustrated in FIG. 10D, which has three buns, physicallyconnected to one another, yet distinct from one another. Also, cutters94 and 96 can be implemented using perforating cutter 48 illustrated inFIG. 8H, so the discrete buns can be separated more easily. While system86 shows rotatable wheel cutters 88 for forming a ganged set of buns asillustrated in FIG. 10D, the ganged buns could also be formed utilizinga reciprocating cutting head, cutters disposed on a rotatable drum, or awalking head cutter, as discussed in greater detail later in theapplication.

FIG. 11A illustrates another cutter 108 in accordance with one aspect ofthe present invention. Cutter 108 is formed of a plurality ofstructures, or cells 110, each of which is similar to cutters 16 or 31,illustrated in previous figures. However, rather than having an innerperiphery which is shaped the same as the outer periphery, each of thecells 110 has an outer periphery which is shaped as a geometric figurewhich can be nested with other similarly shaped cells so as to avoidwaste (e.g., squares, triangles, pentagons, hexagons, etc.), with aninner periphery having a different shape (although it could also be thesame shape), such as a circle or oval, etc. In one preferred embodiment,the outer periphery of each of the cells or structures 110 is providedwith a cutting edge, similar to cutting edge 32 illustrated in FIG. 6A.The inner periphery is provided with a blunt edge dough engaging portionsuch as portion 34 illustrated in FIG. 6A. In this way, a dough sheettraveling beneath cutter 108 will be substantially completely used,without trim (other than trim at the lateral edges of the dough sheet),since the geometric figures (e.g., hexagons) defining the outerperipheries of each of the cells 110 nest with the geometric figuresdefining the outer periphery of adjacent cells 110. However, since theinner periphery is a blunt dough engaging portion, each of the rolls orbread products cut by cutter 108 have rounded edges, rather than squaredoff, or sharply cut edges.

In an illustrative embodiment, a dough sheet is passed along cutter 108in the direction indicated by arrow 112. Cutter 108 is mounted on areciprocating cutter (such as that described in greater detail withrespect to FIG. 12 or 13). In accordance with one aspect of the presentinvention, cutter 108 is provided with leading protrusions 114, andtrailing protrusions 116. Since the inner periphery of cutting cells 110is blunt, it has been observed that dough sheet 15, when traveling inthe direction indicated by arrow 112 under reciprocating cutter 108, canleave narrow trailing dough tails. However, by providing the leading andtrailing protrusions 114 and 116, the tails are substantially eliminatedthus rendering the cut dough product more suitable for packaging, withless waste.

FIG. 11B illustrates an additional feature. It may be desirable toimprint the top of the dough pieces with a pattern (such as a Kaiserpattern, a cross, a cloverleaf, etc.). Such an imprinter is illustratedgenerally at 109 in FIG. 11B.

Imprinter 109 is shown attached to cutter 108 (described with respect toFIG. 11A) on a reciprocating, or walking head-type cutter. Cutter 108 isattached to pattern imprinter 109 by a back plate 111, or anothersuitable attachment mechanism. As the dough moves past cutter 108 in thedirection indicated by arrow 112, the dough is cut into pieces by eachof the cells 110 of cutter 108. The cut dough pieces then progressfurther in the direction indicated by arrow 112, until they are beneathimprinter section 109. The reciprocating head which contains cutter 108and imprinter 109 is then again lowered on the dough. Patterns 113 arepositioned on back plate 111 such that, when the dough is moved by apredefined amount, the pieces cut by cells 110 of cutter 108 areprecisely located beneath patterns 113, which protrude from plate 111.When the cutting head is again reciprocated downwardly toward the doughsheet, patterns 113 impinge on the top of the dough pieces and thusimprint the desired pattern thereon. Of course, the amount by whichpatterns 113 project from backing plate 111 will determine the depth towhich the patterns are imprinted on the surface of the cut dough pieces.Any desirable depth can be chosen.

FIG. 11C illustrates cutter 108 formed as a cutter bar, used inconjunction with a compression roller 118. Such an arrangement, withtraditional sharp edge hex cutters, is known and is described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,575. Briefly, dough sheet 15 travels inthe direction illustrated by arrow 54, above cutter bar 108, which isformed as a continuous cutting unit conveyed by a conveyor. As doughsheet 15 engages compression roller 118, roller 118 compresses doughsheet 15 down into cutter 108. Downstream of compression roller 118, thedough pieces within each of the cells 110 of cutter 108 are removed andpackaged.

FIG. 12 illustrates a system 120 for illustrating cutter 108 on areciprocating head cutter. System 120, as with previous systemsdescribed herein, includes dough sheet 15 moving in the directionindicated by arrow 54, as conveyed by a conveyor. The conveyor is drivenby a motor 122 which is coupled by an index controller (which can be anelectronic controller or a mechanical linkage) to a motor 126 which iscoupled, through linkage 128, to head 108. Motor 126 can be anelectrical motor or any other suitable type of motor such as a linearmotor with hydraulic or pneumatic actuators. As dough sheet 15 is movedin the direction indicated by arrow 54, head 108 is moved in areciprocal fashion indicated by arrow 130, to cut dough sheet 15 intodesired products. Reciprocating head cutters are well known.

FIG. 13 illustrates another system in which cutter 108, or a similarcutter, can be used. In FIG. 13, system 132, employs a walking headcutter arrangement in which cutter 108, reciprocates relative to doughsheet 15 not only in a vertical direction, but also in a horizontaldirection. In other words, cutter 108 is pressed downwardly into doughsheet 15, as dough sheet 15 moves in the direction indicated by arrow54. Cutter 108 thus cuts dough sheet 15 in the desired pattern. Cutter108 is configured to move along with dough sheet 15 in the directionindicated by arrow 54 for a predetermined distance to the positionindicated in phantom at 134 in FIG. 13. Then, cutter 108 is withdrawnfrom dough sheet 15 upwardly and rearwardly relative to the travel path54 of dough sheet 15. Cutter 108 is then depressed down into dough sheet15 again, and again “walks” along with dough sheet 15.

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate yet another system 136 in accordance withone aspect of the present invention. In system 136, a rotary drum cutter138 is provided with cutter 108 disposed on its exterior surface. Aswith reciprocating head cutters, and walking head cutters, rotary drumcutters are also well known. Briefly, as dough sheet 15 moves in thedirection indicated by arrow 54, rotary drum cutter 138 rotates in thedirection indicated by arrow 140. With cutter 108 disposed on itsexterior surface, rotary drum 138 performs desired cutting operations tocut dough sheet 15 into a desired number of pieces.

Thus, it can be seen that the present invention provides a number ofsignificant advantages over prior art dough cutters. The presentinvention provides a blunt dough cutting or dough engaging surface whichis configured to pull a first surface of the dough toward a secondsurface of the dough, when the cutter is impinged on the dough sheet.This tends to seal the two surfaces of dough together, and also, whendesired, severs the dough sheet. This results in a dough product whichmore closely resembles a hand formed dough product, with rounded edges,rather than straight or sharply angled edges. Since the presentinvention can be implemented on substantially any suitable cuttingapparatus, or in any suitable cutting system, the present invention canachieve a high throughput while still maintaining its advantages.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A dough cutting apparatus for shaping andcutting a dough sheet comprising: a conveyor for moving a dough sheet ina dough travel direction, the dough sheet having an upper surface and alower surface, said dough sheet being positioned on the conveyor withthe lower surface of the dough sheet being in contact with and restingupon the conveyor, and the upper surface being defined by a skin of thedough sheet, with the skin being spaced from the conveyor based on athickness of the dough sheet, wherein the lower surface defines a secondskin of the dough sheet; at least one upstream set of wheels mounted forrotation about a first axis which is transverse to the dough traveldirection, each of the at least one upstream set of wheels being spacedabove the conveyor by a distance less than the thickness of the doughsheet; a downstream set of wheels mounted for rotation about a secondaxis which is transverse to the dough travel direction, wherein thedownstream set of wheels are in contact with the conveyor, wherein theat least one upstream set of wheels is configured to depress or locallystretch, but not break, the skin of the dough sheet toward the conveyor,while the downstream set of wheels is configured to sever the doughsheet and wherein the downstream set of wheels is further configured todraw the upper surface to the lower surface so as to pinch the skin ofthe upper surface and second skin together in shaping the individualproducts; a head mounted for reciprocating movement relative to theconveyor; a cutter having a blunt dough engaging portion, said cutterbeing disposed on the head and configured to intermittently engage thedough sheet upon reciprocation of the head relative to the conveyor toboth shape and cut the dough sheet; and a controller configured toreciprocate the head to cause the cutter to intermittently engage thedough sheet in forming individual products from the dough sheet.